USB Ports on Thunderbolt Display Stop Working After Sleep – Requires Restart

Question

Level 1

4 points

USB Ports on Thunderbolt Display Stop Working After Sleep – Requires Restart

Hi,

When I first start my Mac, the USB ports on the back of my Apple Thunderbolt Display work perfectly. My Wacom tablet and external hard drive both connect without any problems.

However, after about an hour — usually when the screen goes to sleep or the screensaver activates — the USB ports stop working. The connected devices lose power and are no longer recognised.

Unplugging and plugging the devices back in doesn't fix it. The only thing that works is restarting the Mac. This happens consistently every time.

Has anyone else experienced this? Any idea what’s causing it or how to stop it happening?

Thanks in advance.

MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 15.5

Posted on Jul 30, 2025 2:25 PM

Reply

Answer 1

samtenor

Level 4

2,074 points

Aug 1, 2025 6:17 PM in response to iiwekei1

When USB devices lost the connection - did the speakers and webcam also stop working?

If the answer is "yes" -- it is the logic board problem. The second most frequent hardware failure on TB display. (1st is the TB connector aka octopus cable).

Reply

Answer 2

iiwekei1 Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 2, 2025 1:47 AM in response to samtenor

Thanks for the advice — really appreciate it.

I’m not 100% sure if the webcam and speakers cut out too, but I’ll test it properly when I get a moment and see if I can recreate the issue. That’s a good point about the logic board — hopefully it’s not that, but wouldn’t be too surprising given the age of the display.

For now, switching back from a 3m USB cable to a short 30cm one seems to have fixed it — not ideal, since I need the reach for my hard drives, but it’s working (at least temporarily).

That said, I think it might be time to bite the bullet and get one of the novelty-priced Apple displays. This one’s definitely done its time

Reply

Answer 3

tbirdvet

Level 6

16,939 points

Aug 2, 2025 6:46 AM in response to iiwekei1

If you do use use sleep and only have display turn off after a set time does the issue go away? If so then do not use sleep as many users have issues using that feature(?).

Reply